When Gwyneth Paltrow's first cookbook came out, more attention was paid to some of her somewhat inane and outrageous statements than the recipes themselves...

Chef Michael Smith hopes home cooks will take the recipes he’s developed for his new cookbook “Back to Basics” 100 Simple Classic Recipes with a Twist“ and stir their own personality into them.

Here are four recipes from the new cookbook to try.

Street Beef Salad With Asian Flavours

Chef Michael Smith says this is his favourite recipe in “Back to Basics.” “I just love this recipe, just love it. I picked up the idea in Thailand. It is so delicious.”

Though inspired by a variety of street foods he has enjoyed in Thailand, it’s not meant to be authentically Thai. “It’s just authentically delicious to ladle an exotically spiced beef broth over a bright, crisp salad. It’s also authentic to speed things up with a pressure cooker,” he writes.

Beef: In a pressure cooker, combine orange juice, marmalade, fish sauce, sambal, lime leaves, ginger and cinnamon. Bring to a full boil over medium-high heat, then stir in beef. Bring back to a full boil, then reduce heat enough to maintain a bare simmer. Fit lid onto pot, forming a tight seal. Cook at full pressure, allowing intense internal pressure to dramatically speed up tenderizing and flavour, for 20 minutes. Turn off heat and let rest for a few minutes, letting steam die down completely before carefully removing lid.

Salad: In a large bowl, toss together bean sprouts, spinach, carrot, mangoes, snow peas and onion. Divide evenly among several serving bowls or a few Chinese takeout containers.

Top salad with steaming ladlefuls of the aromatic stew. Garnish with handfuls of cilantro.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Twist

Cooks all over the world routinely transform tough, inexpensive beef into tender, locally flavoured cuisine. You can do so quickly with a super-efficient pressure cooker. If you don’t have one, just pile the same ingredients into a standard-issue pot and simmer patiently for an hour or so until the meat inevitably tenderizes.

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Harvest Pork Chops

“There’s a basic method here for cooking pork chops. High-heat sear, then a low-heat finish with a lid on the pan keeps them good and juicy,” says chef Michael Smith.

The colourful dish is anchored by that basic method, leaving the way for some extravagant fall-flavour flourishes to get thrown in.

Start by stuffing pork chops. Carefully slice each chop in half horizontally, cutting it open like a book and leaving a thick hinge on one side. In a medium bowl, combine sausage meat, rosemary, cranberry sauce and grainy mustard; mix well. Neatly stuff each chop with an even layer of the sausage mixture, then fold meat back together.

Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Splash in oil, enough to coat bottom with a thin film. When it’s hot, sear chops until golden brown and crispy on each side, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer chops to a plate and loosely cover with foil.

Kale stew: Add onion and garlic to hot pan and saute for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in cranberry juice, cranberry sauce, mustard and salt; bring to a simmer. Add half the kale. Stir while it wilts, in just a minute or so. Nestle chops back in and top with remaining kale. Pour in any juices from the plate, then cover tightly and continue cooking until chops reach an internal temperature of 65 C (145 F), about 10 minutes.

Mound kale stew on plates and top with a stuffed pork chop, whole or thickly sliced.

Makes 2 to 4 servings.

Twist

This hearty dish works well with any savoury green — Asian greens, spinach, swiss chard, mustard greens or beet greens. The cranberry flavours can easily become orange with juice and marmalade making an appearance. A strong tomato theme works well here too.

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Goat Cheese Gnocchi with Sage Butternut Squash Sauce

Gnocchi are thick, soft dumplings that can be based on several ingredients, including wheat, potatoes, breadcrumbs, or a mixture of flour, eggs and cheese as in this recipe.

“It’s a little more frou-frou (than some of the recipes) but equally easy to make. You’d be surprised at how easy that is to make,” says Smith.

“The sauce is really just whacking up a butternut squash and simmering it in water till it breaks down a bit and becomes vaguely saucy — a little bit of butter, garlic, onion and that sort of thing and then you finish it with sage. But that’s all it is. It’s really a loosely cooked butternut squash. It’s a great recipe.”

Meanwhile, start gnocchi. In a stand mixer or food processor, beat or process goat cheese and eggs until smooth. Add Parmesan, butter and salt. Continue mixing until light and fluffy. If using a food processor, transfer mixture to a bowl. Gently stir in flour with a wooden spoon until a smooth dough forms.

Cut dough in half. Lightly flour hands, work surface and dough. Roll each piece of dough into a long, even rope about 1 cm (1/2 inch) thick. Cut crosswise into 2.5-cm (1-inch) pieces.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add half the gnocchi (to avoid crowding the pot). Cook until water returns to a boil and the tender gnocchi rise to the top, 3 or 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer gnocchi to sauce. Repeat with remaining gnocchi.

Stir sage into sauce; continue cooking until everything is heated through and aromatic, just a few minutes more.

Makes 4 servings.

Twist

Any aromatic fresh green herb will work in this dish. Try tarragon, oregano, basil, chives, green onions, rosemary, savory, thyme or even mint. Great big heaping spoonfuls of an old-fashioned homemade basil pesto are delicious too.

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Brown Butter Tarts

“Can you monkey with a classic? Is it allowed?” Smith writes. “Sure, but be prepared to justify your actions. Argue that brown butter has 10 times more flavour than plain melted butter. Affirm that anyone can make plain pastry, but you prefer nutmeg-scented butter pastry. Assert that the corn syrup in normal butter tarts is bland, that maple syrup is much tastier. Stand your ground and watch as the end justifies the means.”

Pastry

750 ml (3 cups) all-purpose flour

250 ml (1 cup) sugar

1 tsp (5 ml) freshly grated nutmeg

2 ml (1/2 tsp) salt

250 ml (1 cup) rock-hard frozen butter

125 ml (1/2 cup) ice water

Filling

500 ml (2 cups) butter

250 ml (1 cup) maple syrup

250 ml (1 cup) brown sugar

20 ml (4 tsp) vanilla extract

4 eggs

50 ml (1/4 cup) all-purpose flour

Heat oven to 230 C (450 F) and turn on convection fan if you have one. Lightly oil a standard muffin pan.

Pastry: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, nutmeg and salt, evenly distributing finer powders amid coarser ones. Grasp butter and firmly grate it through large holes of a box grater into flour below. Working quickly, toss flour and butter shards together with fingers until fat is evenly distributed throughout flour. The cold, separate pieces will yield dividends in flavour and texture as the butter creates flaky layers of pastry.

Sprinkle in ice water and stir into a dough mass with the handle of a wooden spoon. Working quickly so the heat of your hands doesn’t begin to melt butter, knead a few times until dough gathers up all the flour in the bowl. Fold it over a few more times to add a bit more strength to dough and a few more flaky layers to pastry.

Flour hands, dough, work surface and a rolling pin. Roll pastry out into a circle about 38 cm (15 inches) wide and 5 mm (1/4 inch) thick. Using a 9-cm (3 1/2-inch) cookie cutter (or an empty 540-ml/19-oz can with both ends removed or the ring from a wide-mouth canning jar), cut circles from pastry, as many as you can. Form a pleat along one side and fit pastry into muffin cups, evenly filling each cup to rim. Gather up remaining dough, roll out and repeat.

Filling: Brown butter by melting it in a saucepan, then keep on cooking it, swirling gently. Eventually the moisture in the butter will heat, steam, foam and evaporate. Once moisture is gone, the butter fat left behind can rise in temperature — past the boiling point of water — into the browning, flavouring zone. Take it as far as you dare — the deeper the colour, the deeper the flavour — but be ready. The line between brown and burnt black is crossed quickly, and turning off the heat to stop the cooking isn’t enough. Pouring in the maple syrup will do the trick, though. Let cool for 10 minutes.

Whisk together brown sugar, vanilla and eggs, then whisk into butter. Last, stir in flour.

Evenly divide filling among pastry shells. Bake until pastry is beautifully browned and filling is partially set but still a bit runny, about 12 minutes. Let cool slightly until you can remove tarts from the pan.

Makes 24 tarts.

Twist

It’s easy to assume that recipes are written in stone, that a dish can’t change because “that’s the way it’s always been done.” It’s also easy to see cooking as an opportunity to stir your own personality into your food. The key is to be present, to be watchful, to smell and taste and absorb as many of the clues in front of you as you can. It won’t happen overnight, but eventually you’ll feel confident enough to spot an opportunity and dream up a twist of your own.

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